Mini three-door electric hatch confirmed for production in 2019

An electric Mini three-door hatchback will be the brand’s first production electric model when manufacturing begins in 2019.

The electric Mini be put together at the company’s in Oxford, UK, from 2019, although the electric drivetrain will be constructed at BMW’s facilities in Dingolfing and Landshut in Germany.

Specifics about the electric drivetrain have yet to be announced, so we don’t know how much power and torque the car’s electric motor or motors will generate. Nor do have any idea about the car’s battery capacity and its estimated driving range.

The new electric Mini hatch will be a variant of the regular three-door hatch, and will be sold alongside the volume-selling turbocharged petrol and diesel versions.

When the electric Mini hatchback goes on sale, it will be the brand’s second car with a partially or fully electric drivetrain, following on from the Countryman Cooper S E All4 plug-in hybrid.

According to BMW, “additional electrified models will be brought to market in the coming years and beyond 2020, [and] the company’s next generation vehicle architecture will enable further fully-electric vehicles”.

BMW expects by 2025 between 15 and 25 per cent of the company’s sales will feature an electrified drivetrain of some description, and it hopes to sell 100,000 electrified cars this year.

Australia

We’re waiting to hear back from Mini Australia about the electric three-door’s local prospects. The company has so far been unable to make a compelling economic case to bring the Countryman Cooper S E All4 plug-in hybrid crossover to these shores.